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5PSC: 5th International Possibility Studies Conference
Maynooth University
Maynooth, Ireland, June 30-July 4, 2025
Conference websitehttps://www.possibilitystudies.net/event/5th-international-conference-of-possibility-studies/
Submission linkhttps://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=5psc

The 5th International Conference of Possibility Studies will held in person at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, and have the theme Communities of Possibility.

This edition is organised by the Department of Psychology at Maynooth University and the DCU Centre for Possibility Studies at Dublin City University under the auspices of the Possibility Studies Network and with support from Creative Ireland.

The conference will bring together scholars, researchers, and practitioners from around the world and from across disciplines with an interest in the diverse methods associated with understanding, studying, and fostering the possible within minds, communities, and cultures.

Submission Guidelines

We invite the following kinds of contributions for the conference:

  1. Paper presentations
  2. Symposia
  3. Workshops
  4. Early career keynote award

Paper presentations are standard conference presentations. Each presentation will be allocated 15 minutes + 5 minutes for questions. 

Symposia are allocated 1 hour and 30 minutes. A symposium needs to include either 4 paper presentations OR 3 paper presentations and a discussion (led by an assigned Discussant). The Chair (co-Chairs) can present a paper within the symposium or not, as they choose.

Workshops are allocated 1 hour and a 30 minutes. Please note that there are very few slots for workshops in the programme. Submitters are invited to consider, should their submission as a workshop be unsuccessful, if they would give an oral presentation instead of their workshop. Such papers will be presented in 'Toolkits' symposia. Selecting this option will not affect in any way the chances of being accepted as a workshop.

The Early Career Keynote is an award given to a presenter who has finished their PhD in the past 5 years. The awardee will give a keynote on the 3rd of July 2025, and have their participation costs covered.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION Please note that you can submit only one contribution per category as lead author, to give everyone a fair chance to present their work. If you submit a second contribution as lead author within a category, we will retain only the first submission and we will delete all the other submissions. If you wish to amend your submission, please follow the guidelines from easychair or contact us. 

For each category, please see the details below before submitting! Please do not fill the submission form in caps lock (all uppercase)

Topics

  • Creativity and imagination
  • New possibilities in education
  • The possible in human development
  • Social movements, activism, and collective futures
  • Creating fair and sustainable communities
  • Fostering possibilities in and through the arts
  • Future thinking and anticipation
  • Creative agency and constraints
  • Creative cognition and serendipity
  • Designing for possibility
  • Possibilities in technology, AI, and digital media
  • Possibility and uncertainty in health and wellbeing
  • Innovation, entrepreneurship, and possibilities in business
  • Methodological innovations
  • The ethics of possibility
  • Other topics relevant for Possibility Studies

Paper presentations

We mainly accept four types of paper presentations:

  1. Empirical research papers 
  2. Theoretical contributions
  3. Literature reviews
  4. Descriptions of interventions

We suggest to include the following information in your abstract, depending on the kind of paper submitted:

Empirical research papers Theoretical contributions Literature reviews        Papers on an intervention
  1. Gap in knowledge / practice
  2. Theoretical background
  3. Research question or hypothesis and general study design
  4. Participants
  5. Data collection and data analysis methods
  6. Main findings
  7. Conclusion
  1. Gap in knowledge / practice
  2. Theoretical background
  3. Conceptual innovation
  4. Implications for theory / research / practice
  5. Conclusion
  1. Gap in knowledge / practice
  2. Research question and type of review
  3. Inclusion criteria used / selection criteria for relevant literature
  4. Databases used / type of literature reviewed
  5. Procedure
  6. Main findings
  7. Conclusion
  1. Gap in knowledge / practice
  2. Review of similar interventions
  3. Outline of current intervention
  4. Case study / pilot study / guidelines for application
  5. Implications for theory / research / practice
  6. Conclusion

 

When submitting your proposal, you will be asked the following information:

  • Title (no more than 15 words)
  • Abstract (maximum 200 words)
  • Keywords
  • Authors' names, contacts, and affiliations
  • Topics (One or maximum two themes to be selected from the conference topics). If no theme fits please select the closest one, this will help us prepare the programme. 
  • Type of presentation (empirical, theoretical, review, intervention, other)

Papers will be allocated 15 minutes for presentation + 5 minutes for questions. They will be grouped with three other papers in sessions of 1 hour 30 minutes. 

To submit a paper, select the '5PSC - Papers' track at submission. Do not submit more than one paper as lead author. 

 

Symposia

Symposia are collections of papers on a common theme, to be presented together. They should include either:

  • Four papers and a chair
  • Three papers, a discussant, and a chair

A chair can also be the discussant for their symposium, as long as they are not also a lead author on a paper within the symposium. Please note that an author cannot be lead author on more than one paper within a symposium. A chair cannot submit more than one symposium. 

Each symposium will be allocated 1 hour and 30 minutes. We suggest using 10 minutes for the introduction and/or final discussion, 15 minutes for each interventions (papers and discussant, if any), and 5 minutes for questions after each intervention. If you would like to include four papers and a discussant, you will be able to do so, but you will not be allocated extra time.

When submitting your proposal, you will be asked the following information:

  • Title (no more than 15 words). This is the title of the symposium.
  • Abstract (maximum 200 words). This is the abstract of the symposium.
  • Keywords. These are the keywords of the symposium.
  • Authors' name, contacts, and affiliations. This is the chair of the symposium.
  • For each paper. Please use the guidelines of the paper presentations for the titles and abstracts.
    • Title
    • Abstract
    • Authors' details. Please use the guidelines in the form to enter the authors' details. 
  • Discussant name, contact, and affiliations. This is optional. A discussant cannot be a lead author on a paper in the symposium. 

To submit a symposium, select the '5PSC - Symposia' track at submission.

 

Workshops

Workshops are interactive sessions designed to foster possibilities, encourage reflection, illustrate concepts, etc. 

Each workshop will be allocated 1 hour and 30 minutes. Please note that slots for workshops are limited and that a substantial proportion of proposals will be offered a slot as a paper presentation instead. Presentations slots offered as alternatives to workshops will be within symposia called Toolkits, where they will presented alongside other interventions. 

When submitting your proposal, you will be asked the following information:

  • Title (no more than 15 words). 
  • Abstract (maximum 200 words). The abstract should include information on the:
    • Aims and rational of the workshop
    • Theoretical underpinning (if applicable)
    • Description of the content of the workshop
    • Take aways
    • Materials (if applicable)
  • Keywords. 
  • Authors' names, contacts, and affiliations. 
  • Outline of the workshop (maximum 200 words). The aim of this section is to clarify what participants should expect if they join the workshop. It should include information on the:
    • Materials (if applicable)
    • Stages of the activity (or activities) proposed
    • Participant engagement
  • Consideration for a Toolkit (whether or not you would like your workshop to be presented as a Toolkit if it is not accepted as a workshop). This will not affected in any way your chances of being accepted as a workshop. 

Please note that a lead convener cannot submit more than one workshop. 

To submit a workshop, select the '5PSC - Workshops' track at submission.

 

Early Career Keynote Award

We are inviting applications for the Early Career Keynote Award consisting of a keynote to be offered during the annual PSN conference on Thursday, 3rd of July 2025.

The aim of this award is to offer a chance to a new voice in Possibility Studies to showcase their work to our community. The award includes:

  • The opportunity to present your work in a plenary session keynote
  • A travel and accomodation award, covering your hotel fees for the duration of the conference and up to 600 euros for transport
  • Conference fees and conference dinner
  • Mentorship prior to the conference

The eligibility criteria are as follows:

  • PhD awarded no more than 5 years prior to the start of the conference. Applicants in the process of being awarded a PhD will only be considered if they have a letter from their committee confirming the upcoming awarding date. Justified careers breaks (parental/carer's leave, illness, etc.) will be taken into consideration. 
  • Main area of work related to Possibility Studies

When submitting your proposal, you will be asked the following information:

  • Name and affiliation
  • Title (for proposed keynote, no more than 15 words). 
  • Abstract (for proposed keynote, maximum 200 words).
  • Keywords
  • PhD thesis title 
  • PhD award proof (pdf upload)
  • Cover letter outlining the motivation to apply for the Early Career Keynote award (200 to 400 words)
  • Statement of relevance for the field (maximum 200 words on how your work is related to Possibility Studies)
  • Complete CV and list of publications (pdf upload)
  • Reference letter (pdf upload)
  • Consideration for a New Voices symposia (whether or not you would like your proposal to be considered for a paper presentation in New Voices symposia should your application be unsuccessful). This will not affected in any way your chances of being selected for the award. 

To submit a proposal for the Early Career Keynote Award, select the '5PSC - Early Career Keynote' track at submission.

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